Scorpius stood in the rain before the intricately woven wrought iron gates of Malfoy Manor. The water had soaked his pale blonde hair and was now dripping down the back of his neck and rolled down the bridge of his nose. It had been ten years he'd last visited this place after completing his seventh year of Hogwarts. He examined the familiar designs in the gates, the large intricate snakes with the green jewels for eyes that sat on either side, the iron rose bushes which surrounded them, more thorns than flowers. He let his fingers trace the petals on one of the metal blooms, and then dropped his hand to the gate latch. He began to walk up the path to the main entrance, nervously fiddling with his wand in his pocket. He stood and looked through the window into the familiar kitchen which was pouring light out into the dark stormy night. Scorpius thought he could almost hear voices in the storm, trying to tell him something, but the voices were so lost in the darkness and the wet that the message was unintelligable. He began to approach the door and then wondered how he would be received, hesitating to lift the familiar knocker in the shape of a coiled snake. He closed his eyes remembering the warm summer day that was that last he had been here, the day he had received the letter that shattered his dreams...

Scorpius stood with his back to the kitchen window, pensively sipping his morning tea and fidgeting with the ring box in his pocket. The morning light was filtering in through the trees into the kitchen with such incredible purity. He pulled the box out of his pocket, opening it and allowing the sunlight to refract in the gems of the ring; the light turning to pure shades of emerald and the many colors that together made the pure white of the diamonds. He was suddenly jarred out of his thoughts by the appearance of the barred owl at the window behind him, tapping on the glass, causing him to spill his tea down the front of his shirt. He swore and grabbed a cloth to soak the liquid off his clothes while he unlatched the window and let the owl in. The owl dropped a letter on the counter for him and flew off.

He picked up the letter which was adressed to him and examined the delicate hand-writing on the front. He recognized it, it was the careful print of Rose Weasely, the girl he loved. He eagerly shredded the top of the envelope to access the contents, with an expression on his face that resembled that of a child on christmas day opening a large package from under the tree. The excited light in his eyes began to fade though as he read and the smile became a look of disbelief. The letter read:

Scorpius,

I first would like to say I'm sorry, I will have to cancel our plans for next week. Although I would very much enjoy going to your summer home with you and your family, it would be unfair for me to take advantage of the opportunity. You see, I no longer have the same feelings for you that you do for me. I suppose you could say I've grown out of the silliness of school romances, in light of the greater importance of my future career. I hope that you will understand and that you too will work for success in your life.

Sincerely,

Rose Weasely

The letter slowly fluttered to the ground as it fell from Scorpius's hands. For a moment he did nothing, but as the pain began to seep in, he started shaking his head in disbelief. He needed to get away, now. He turned on the spot and with a snap, apparated and left Malfoy Manor...

Scorpius shook off the memory, massaging his temples and hit the large sliver knocker against the door several times. He heard the voices of his family inside and began to wonder how he was going to explain to them where he had been for the last ten years.

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Rose stood in her nightgown gazing out her bedroom window, the familiar scene of the surrounding houses blurred and muddled by the layer of rain droplets on the pane. She glanced at the clock, 4:00 AM; much too early to be awake. She sighed and began to pace. She had been experiencing chronic insomnia for years now, but who could blame her when she wanted so badly to avoid the dreams she knew would come if she slept too much. Memories began to flash through her head, the same ones that appeared in her dreams; they were all of him. she covered eyes as if she could will them to have never happened; but she also knew that that was not what she really wanted. This silence was bad for her, it gave her too much time to think. She quickly put some clothes on and wrote her a mother a quick note before heading out the door in pursuit of someone she knew she could talk to and who happened to be awake at this time of the morning.

"Couldn't sleep again?" Dominique asked as she opened the door before her cousin could even knock.

"How did you know it was me?" Rose asked with a touch of astonishment.

"You apparated on top of my front hedges, you're the only person I know who could somehow manage to do that" Dominique said matter of factly. Rose had never been good with apparating as both she and Dominique very well knew. She had once landed in the neighbor's trash can on her way back from one of her late night excursions, causing quite a bit of commotion.

"True," Rose stepped inside, removing her jacket. It was very convenient for Rose that her cousin was literally nocturnal because of her job. She worked from 7 PM- 3 AM every evening studying magical creatures that roamed the night. So anytime after 3, Rose could drop in for a cup of tea and just to chat.

"I've been seeing a lot of you recently Rose, what's going through your mind?" Dominique asked with a hint of concern. Rose gave her a look and Dominique returned the look with a knowing grimace. When Rose couldn't sleep it was always for the same reason. "You know Rose, if it's that heavy on your mind, maybe.." Rose quickly interrupted, "No."

"I wasn't..." Rose interrupted her again,

"Dom, I don't wanna hear it".

"But..!"

"NO!"

"I'm not going to say you what you think!"

Rose was quiet for a moment, "Fine, you may speak". Dominique looked a bit annoyed and mumbled, "I'm glad I have your permission your highness,". Dominique took in a big breath of air and continued, "now, what I was going to say is that this... problem has been bothering you for a long time now, maybe what you need, is closure."

"Closure, sure," Rose said, rolling her eyes. Dominique continued, "No really, listen, what you need to do is get in contact with him, see how he's doing, maybe even establish a friendship."

"Dominique you know I can't do that... friendship is not possible for us..." Rose said the last part so quietly that even though Dominique was sitting right next to her she struggled to hear her. When Rose looked up at her cousin the tears were clearly visible in her eyes. Dominique had her arms around her in seconds, allowing her to cry into her shoulder and comfort her. Rose was a delicate soul and she'd been fractured, Dominique thought to herself as her cousin cried into shoulder that she was going to fix this.